Morning Coffee: The First Dude

The First Dude Has Died. And, He‘s Responsible For Over 500 Decendants…

October 8, 2026

Good morning, folks!

man sitting and reading newspaper — _{^{Photo by Anna Keibalo on Pexels.com}}

I read the other day that the First Dude had died. I stopped and looked at that headline twice.

The First Dude?

Was he somebody’s husband? A fellow who insisted on being first in line everywhere he went? Or one of those rascals who walks into a room as though he owns the place?

Was he one of the president’s kids? A former president’s brother? No, neither seemed quite right for a name like First Dude. I thought briefly of Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’s husband. He carried himself with enough quiet confidence to pull it off, but he already had a title: Second Gentleman.

The more I read, the more I thought I had him figured out. He was a Florida fellow with a remarkable social life. He had been quite the catch in his younger days and, from all appearances, remained popular for years. His family was enormous. There were 538 youngsters of racing age on the books, though I doubt he remembered every name.

And talk about a family making something of itself: 302 of them became winners. Together, his offspring earned nearly $30 million. That would give anybody at the coffee table something to brag about.

But the First Dude had earned his own reputation long before his children came along. He was a competitor who kept showing up among the best. In 2010, he finished second in the Preakness Stakes and third in the Belmont Stakes. He earned more than $1.4 million during his own racing career.

By now, you may have caught on. The First Dude was a horse.

First Dude, to give him his proper name, was a racehorse and later a stallion at Double Diamond Farm in Florida. He was named Florida Stallion of the Year in both 2017 and 2018. He died at 19.

**^{_{First Dude was a Stud! A Horse’s, Horse!}}**

I began reading with a chuckle over his name. I finished thinking about what it means to leave a mark. First Dude ran his own races, and then a whole new generation carried something of him onto the track.

So raise your coffee cup to the First Dude. He was quite a fellow. And, yes, he really did own a little piece of the place.

Based on reporting by Horse Racing Nation. Photo: Bob Mayberger / Eclipse Sportswire.